


Butterflies

by unowenowl



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Asexual Character, Characters to be added, F/F, Tags to be added, book shop, i actually don't know what i'm doing, painter luna
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-30
Updated: 2016-08-30
Packaged: 2018-08-12 02:08:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7916293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unowenowl/pseuds/unowenowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luna is a painter, struggling to find inspiration. When Ginny opens a flower shop across the street from her studio, Luna suddenly finds a brand new muse.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so this hit me when I saw this post: http://imaginesharrypotter.tumblr.com/post/148203733595/aus-no-one-asked-for-artist-au-flowershop-au
> 
> At first I intended to make it a one-shot but then I thought, what if I make it multi-chaptered?
> 
> I have no idea what I'm doing. I hope you like it.

Chapter I

 

“Luna, dearest, how are you?”

Luna bits a sigh. While she doesn’t doubt that her father is genuinely interested in her well-being, she knows that this is not the main reason that he called her. However, she keeps her voice as calm and her words as pleasant as always.

“Hello, Papa. I’ve been well, thank you. What about you?”

She patiently listens to him talk about his magazine, about people he’s seen, about places he wants to visit, interjecting sometimes with a ‘Hmm’ or ‘Yes, Papa.’ to let him know she’s still with him.

And then the dreaded question comes. She can almost feel the change in the tone of the conversation, from happy and excited to hesitant.

“Sweetheart, I was wondering...there’s no pressure, I was simply wondering. You didn’t happen to have painted something, did you? A portrait perhaps or the nature...”

“No, Papa, I haven’t yet, I’m sorry.” she says, as calmly as she can. It’s not his fault that her current canva has been blank for over a week. She’s only thankful that he cannot see her sad face over the phone.

“Oh, don’t worry, darling, I’m sure something extraordinary will come to you soon!” her father replies, with much more confidence than she feels.

“I hope so.” she replies and changes the conversation.

Three minutes later, they tell each other goodbye. Her father has to deal with his small business and she with...finding her inspiration, she supposes. She puts her phone on the kitchen table, before looking around her room sadly. Her room is full of unused canvas, sketches and unfinished paintings. And notes. Dozens of notes. She has moments of brilliant ideas which go away the moment she tries to sketch or paint them; so she writes them whenever she can, mostly on post-it notes or her phone, when she has nothing else to write on. She has a few napkins with ideas on her fridge.

Her microwave clock tells her it’s 8:30 AM and she is reminded, rather abruptly, that she has a job to go to. She is thankful that she lives so closely to it, as she rushes through her shower. She quickly puts on a dress and some sandals before taking her phone and keys. She closes the door of her apartment and says a quick ‘Good morning!’ to the landlady before rushing down the stairs. She is a lovely lady, but a rather talkative one. There is no doubt she would ask questions or tell some stories. Usually, Luna would stay and listen patiently for as long as possible, but she doesn’t want to be late.

She glances at the shoe shop opposite her apartment. Well, what used to be a shoe shop. The owner, Ernie, left. He apparently already sold the place, as she could see a white van and no “For Sale” sign. But she can ponder about it later.

She only stops running when she reaches her destination, a coffee-bookshop called ‘Patil’s Path’. She takes a deep breath to slow down her heartbeat. She checks her phone: ‘9:01 AM’. On time.

She enters the shop. It’s on the side of the bookshop, therefore she is greeted by Padma. “Good morning, Luna.”

“Good morning, Padma. You look lovely.”

“Thank you, so do you. Did you have a pleasant weekend?”

“Yes, I did. I finished that book I borrowed from you.”

“I’m glad. Did you enjoy it?”

“Yes, thank you. I forgot to bring it, though. I will return it tomorrow.”

“No worries.”

‘Patil’s Path’ is a family business. Before leaving the business to the girls, Padma and the father were dealing mostly with the bookshop, while Parvati and the mother were dealing with the coffee/tea shop. Luna used to be a regular during her college days, usually buying books as well as some tea to drink. Therefore she was acquaintances with all Patil members; things only got better when she met Padma at an art exposition and befriended her. After the twins finished college, the parents retired, only to come and help when things are particularly tight. Luna is grateful that she was offered the chance of working there, especially considering how difficult things have been for her in the last year.

“I’m going to say a quick hello to the girls.” She tells Padma, who nods.

She offers a “Good morning!” to Hannah and Parvati, and they each respond with a characteristic smile: Hannah’s is small while Parvati is grinning.

“Luna, Luna, come here. I came up with a brilliant idea this weekend. Tell me, which is your zodiacal sign?”

“Uh, I was born on February 13th. I think I am an Aquarius.”

“Indeed you are. Here you go, taste this.” She says, holding a cup with the Aquarius sign on it. “Tell me what you think about it.”

Luna takes a sip. It _is_ good. She tries to identify the ingredients but she can only recognize chocolate. A bit spicy too, somehow, though not disturbingly so. Cinnamon, perhaps?

“I like it,” She says, taking another sip.

“I’m glad you did. I came up with a different recipe for every sign! Lavender helped too. People love this sort of thing, even when they pretend they don’t. I promoted them on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr as well. I expect customers to come at some point, though not exactly right now. I may need your help, Hannah is still a novice and I don’t want her to feel overwhelmed,” Parvati tells her, with a proud smile.

Luna smiles as well, happy for her friend. Parvati’s creativity and outgoing personality are some of the reasons the coffee shop is so popular. She is amazingly good at this and Luna admires her for that.

“Of course I will.” She says, smiling towards Hannah as well, who returns it shyly.

Parvati’s prediction comes, unsurprisingly, to be true. The first couple of hours are relatively quiet, with only a few customers around. However, around 11 AM the coffee shop begins to become crowded, most people demanding a beverage matching their zodiacal sign; others demand usual drinks, which are Luna's to deal with. However, at some point, the crowd becomes too much for one person. Luna helps Parvati in preparing the ‘Zodiacs’.

“I’m so thankful you’re a fast learner.” Parvati says with a sigh as three students leave, each with a large cup in their hands, which has an astrological sign on its surface. One of them is a Leo, another a Virgo and the third seems to be a Scorpio.

“Well, it is one of the reasons you hired me, after all.” Luna responds while cleaning the counter. “Plus, you’ve made the Aries and the Leo beverages so often, I got enough time to notice how you make them.”

Parvati laughs at that. “Well, it is said that they are the most egotistical signs so…”

Luna hums in approval. She doesn’t know much about astrology, nor is she very interested but she’s willing to listen.

The door opens again and Luna raises her eyes, ready to serve whoever got in. The first thing that she notices is red. Red, long, beautiful hair, belonging to a girl, perhaps, though assumptions when it comes to gender can be inaccurate; the person looks about her age, with brown eyes and many freckles. They come to the counter and they smile and Luna can feel herself smile too and –

Ow, that hurt. She throws a side glance to Parvati, who just grins at her. She moved away from the counter at some point, being busy with something. Or, if Luna is truthful, pretending to be busy with something. She’s clearly noticed that Luna was staring and she’s suggesting that Luna should deal with the beautiful customer. Which is thoughtful but completely unnecessary, in Luna’s opinion. But she will deal with it professionally. She rubs the spot where Parvati’s elbow hit her and greets the newcomer.

“Good morning! How can I help you?”

The customer smiles at her. “Hello. I would like a large cup of black coffee with whipped cream, please. On the go.”

“Immediately.”, she replies and begins preparing it. She is weirdly aware of the customer’s actions, like the drumming of the fingers and the way they look around the café.

“Here,” She says, offering them the cup.

“Thank you…” they reply, with a short pause as they look over Luna, trying to find the nameplate. She points a finger to her badge, to make it easier for them. “Luna.” They say, finally. They look around once more, before commenting. “This is a very lovely place.”

“Yes, indeed it is,” Luna nods. “It belongs to the Patil family, as the name suggests. They’ve got a lovely bookshop, with a lot of diverse books. I work there most of the time.”

The other person smiles. “I’ll keep it in mind. But unfortunately, I can't visit now. I’ve only come for a short break to get my coffee.”

“I see,” Luna says. “Well, I hope you have a good day.”

“You too.” The person says as they depart. “See you around.”

She turns around after she can’t see the person anymore. That is indeed some lovely hair. And long too. ‘ _I wonder how they manage to keep it untangled. Mine is difficult and it’s shorter.’_

Then she notices Parvati giving her a small smile and shaking her head slowly as if she can’t believe her.

“What?” Luna asks. She feels as if she’s missing something.

“You’re cute.” It’s all Parvati says.

“Umm...thank you, but why?”

“Well, you do are cute. Your flirting style is too, though.”

“I wasn’t flirting.”

“Well, they were.”

“I think they were just polite.”

“Luna, how many customers have bothered to see your nameplate?”

“Well, there were like two or three…”

“And afterward made a comment about 'how nice this place is'?" Parvati air-quotes. " Just to buy some time with you?”

“Ah…Well.”

“Look, I’m not saying anything. Just that the interaction between you two was cute, in my opinion.”

“Ah, well, thank you then. I suppose.”

“What was cute?” a third voice interrupts. Both girls turn towards the source, which is Lavender. Luna notices immediately the dress she is wearing, its green complimenting her dark skin. She has always thought Lavender would make a pretty princess, but right now she has the exact image of one. Maybe she could ask Lavender to pose for her to paint one day.

“The flirting between Luna and a customer was adorable,” Parvati replies, as she lets her lover get behind the counter. Lavender offers her a kiss, before replying, “Too bad I missed it.”

“Well, they did say they will be coming back,” Luna says, then she has a short moment of regret as Lavender’s smile only grows.

“Oh, then I’ll make sure to be around.”

Luna nods.

“I will go and show Lavender the problem with our computer, could you deal with the customers until then?”, Parvati asks, already half on her way and holding her girlfriend’s hand.

“Of course.”

“Thanks.” They say and they’re gone.

She can't remember there being any sort of issue with their computer and there’s probably more that Parvati wants to show to Lavender, but Luna doesn’t quite care. It’s none of her business.

The rest of the day goes in the same fashion, short moments of agglomeration combined with pauses of quiet.

And if Luna is looking for the person with the pretty red hair, she doesn’t tell anyone. Though something tells her that Parvati already knows it.

She leaves the shop at six o’clock. She walks much slower than she did when she left her home in the morning, allowing herself to enjoy the scenery, particularly the sky. The stars are beginning to appear, though it's too much light to see many. It isn’t as quiet as she’d like it to be, but she can deal with it. Noise is beautiful in its own way too.

When she reaches home, she notices that the shop opposite her is decorated. There is a big banner on which it’s written ‘ _Golden Star’_ in yellow. Luna can see flowers behind the glass, so she can safely presume it’s a flower shop.

‘ _This is lovely.’_ She thinks. _‘I could go buy some flowers tomorrow for the shop. Actually, I think I will buy some for myself as well. It would be a nice addition to my house’s atmosphere.’_

That night, she thinks of red hair and brown eyes and freckled skin. She falls asleep with the hope she’ll get to see the customer again next day.

**Author's Note:**

> Alright so...tell me your opinions! You can also find me at bihermione.tumblr.com


End file.
